hotfoot wrote:A real fancy camera..took it to the cops..after spending ages convincing them I hadn't stolen it...turns out it was stolen not lost..unfortunately I didn't get it back as unclaimed property...owners claimed it. Damn my honesty.

But at least you have a clear conscience, and good karma will be coming your way.Better luck next time, eyes peeled.

There's a similar thread to this, much advanced in age, on the Bike Vic forums. Worth a read too.

I seem to have a knack for finding things, tools and wallets being common. Generally I think this relates to how things get lost; if I ride through a neat middle class area like Como near Manning Rd I seem to find 2 dollar coins lately, if I ride along the main roads connecting boganville I find stuff thrown out of stolen cars, I've a great collection of pocketknives from outside my local shopping centre, you get the idea. And people seem to be clumsy, lose things. Roundabouts are good for lost valuables, just as traffic lights collect tyre-piercing bits.

I've stopped trying to contact the people who've lost mobile phones, I've had too many hiccups from this (teenagers!) and just hand them in to the cop shop. Contents of wallets, the trail of credit and business cards that you see sometimes strewn down a road after a break in, robbery or car theft I usually gather up and try to find the owner. Sometimes they're lucky and the wallet has money, the biggest find like this was a wallet stuffed with 50s and 100s, looked like a month's pay and the owner wanted to give me a 100 as reward, no doing. The first time that I found valuables and didn't try to find the owner immediately I was contacted six months after I'd handed it in to the cops, the owner wanted to find the missing papers that'd been with the briefcase; if there's that long a delay with the cops it's better to find the owner yourself. Rarely have I seen a motorist stop to clear an obstruction off a road, the most eager case was when a ute in front lost a whippersnipper, the next car got to it before I could rescue it, probably the last the real owner would've seen of it. Biggest thing otherwise that I've had to pass up was a sledgehammer, spotted on a country road while doing a 1000km Audax; no thanks! Weirdest find was a 50 buck note standing up on its side above a sewer grate, fluttered in as I rode past and I got help from some Adelaide council workers only yards away to get it out. Then there was that 7 foot crowbar found just down the road from the servo that was broken into, hell of a ride home that day.

It isn't that I don't pay attention to the road while riding, I seem to pay more attention because I'm on the bike, as well as going the right speed to bother stopping. Keeping the roads clean, one wallet at a time.

Best find was a multi-tool with chain breaker. Various lights. Second-most useful was a rubber mallet.

I always try to find the owner by posting on a local forum or leaving a sign up at the point of fiinding.* Most irritating was a bike computer the owner didn't pick up for months. I had to hassle him to come and get it.* Most rewarding was an expensive kids wetsuit that I found while surfing at Harbord/Freshwater - they were so grateful to get it back.

Cash rewards I turn down but when they've gone to the trouble to buy a gift it feels rude to decline.

Last night I found a MyBus3 Travel10 ticket on the pavement at Wynyard - unused! Unfortunately no way to confirm the bona-fides of the owner with that one.

Lost items? My Garmin 705 disappeared off my stem when I had to bail out of a near-OTB in a 4-hour race at Yellowmundee mtb circuit beginning of last year. Didn't notice until I was part-way around the circuit. I finished my lap, got my temperature back down with the ice bag (it was a 43C day) and was about to head out to go look when an announcement came over the race control PA that one had been handed in - it was mine! Yay!

Almost as good as getting it back was removal of the prospect of having to explain to the Minister for Finance that it had been lost. Would have been nice to find the hander-innerer and share some of the booty I won for our podium placing.

Found a wallet that must have fallen off a roof going around the corner. Only had some bank cards in it, so tried to call the bank. They talked for a bit and cancelled the dudes cards. Oops. Took it to the cops and got a call the next day. Teh guy wanted to take me out to dinner, to which I declined. Kinda weird way to say thank you...

Worst thing I've lost is the little tightening thing that goes on your bike pump to seal in the valve. They jsut don't work with those!!! Cost me $40 to get a different brand after only using that one for a single puncture!! Perfectly good pump, but useless without the little tightening thingy....

Just a heads up for anyone who lost their sex toy, it's sitting on, sorry standing on Rockingham Rd, Wattleup and awaiting your collection. I passed on picking it up and dropping it off at the local cop shop as 'lost and found', do the local cops have a sense of humour or what?

a $20 note ironed flat in the bike lane in pouring rain. According to a solicitor friend I was legally required to hand it in as lost property.Having guiltily spent it do I now expect that knock on the door.

pacra wrote:a $20 note ironed flat in the bike lane in pouring rain. According to a solicitor friend I was legally required to hand it in as lost property.Having guiltily spent it do I now expect that knock on the door.

Cash in the bikelane is compensation for all the broken glass you have to enure and is classed as income. Don't forget to decare on your tax return this financial year. The act of picking it up was work so your bike is now a tax deduction! If only!

pacra wrote:a $20 note ironed flat in the bike lane in pouring rain. According to a solicitor friend I was legally required to hand it in as lost property.Having guiltily spent it do I now expect that knock on the door.

Cash in the bikelane is compensation for all the broken glass you have to enure and is classed as income. Don't forget to decare on your tax return this financial year. The act of picking it up was work so your bike is now a tax deduction! If only!

be easier if he had an ABN and issues a tax invoice to the council ($25 administration fee, of course)

PIcked up a brilliant pair of Oakleys in the middle of the bush a few weekends back. I saw them coming around a corner on the trail and was actually aiming for them before my mind clicked in and said "hey, sunnies!". Carried them back to the car park and considered options - no means of leaving a note. Opted to keep them.

They're now my MTB sunnies

Having lost three pairs of good (expensive) sunnies, two of them having been stolen, I feel no guilt.

Found a pair of Rai Bans but they neither fitted nor suited me (best for a small-faced pilot or 70's porn star ) but my wife found a great pair of Spotter Cruiz on her commute the other day - just right for me

Also seem to find lots of good rolls of tape (duct, masking, electrical and packing), haven't had to buy any for years.

BandedRail wrote:Also seem to find lots of good rolls of tape (duct, masking, electrical and packing), haven't had to buy any for years.

You must be lucky to follow the right roads! The frequency and type of booty that you find is certainly influenced by the types of roads traversed. Detouring through commercial areas is great if you dont mind flats.

Lot's of fishing in my area and stuff falls out of boats being towed on trailers all the time - filleting knife, tools, lifejacket, plenty of shackles and shackle pins etc. Found a chainsaw on my ride to work once as well, it was a bit smashed up though.

Sadly all i've seen on my commute is a bright red frame pump, in the gutter forlornly missing its owner, but i flew past too fast to contemplate turning around to pick up. Oh, and lots of dead possums that range from fresh 'n juicy to pancaked into an almost unrecognisable mess. Ewww.

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